Horn blowing attachment for steering wheels



Aug. 1s, 1931. Q RECHTER nomi BLowIne Macallan n srsnro WHEELS Filed Nov. '7. 1929 v IIIl gy E60/Lier y V'I duty.

Patented Aug. 18, 1931 v'iiSxri:Nrori-ICE GEORGE RECHTER, E sANV FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA f 4HORN-iELOWVING ATTACHMENT ECR STEERING WHEELSy vApplication led November kThe invention aimsfto provide a new and f. -improved attachment for the steeringwheels f of motor vehicles, of suoli lnature as to permit depression yofthe conventional hornbutton,

t without the necessity of the driver releasing 1 his grip uponthe rim of the wheel, being particularly advantageous Vwhen only one hand is .free for steering, the other being then required'for shifting gears or for some other With thefforegoing View, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description .be-

ing accomplished by reference to' the accom- *15 panying drawings.

Fig. v1 is a sectional parts omitted.y

,Fig. 2` is an enlarged view. y F720 Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section showing a modified form of construction.

Fig. 4k is a detail top plan view showing another variation of construction.`

Fig. 5 is a small top plan view of the entire frame of the attachment.

The preferred construction has been illustrated and while such construction will be herein speciiically explained, it is to be understood that within the scope of the invention as kclaimed, numerous variations may be made.

- The numeral 6 denotes a Hat ring to sury round the conventional horn button B at the center of a steering wheel Radiating from this ring and secured thereto in any preperspective view with vertical sectional disposition over the wheel spokes S, said arms being of iiat strip form and having their outer ends downwardly offset from their inner ends, providing vertical portions 8 between said inner and outer ends. The outer ends of the arms 7 are secured upon the spokes S, being preferably provided with spoke straddlingears 9 through which clamping bolts 10k pass, said bolts being adapted to underlie the spokes. This construction and that hereinafter described, is duplicated in connection with each arm 7 but for purposes of illustration, details of only one unit of the attachment, are'showm-and the remaining ferred manner, are a plurality of arms 7 for y7, 1929. serial N.4o5,44s.

description maybe convenientlyplaced in singular number. f v.

The innerand outer portions of the arm 7 are lprovided with substantially flat, sleevelike guides 11 and 11,1 respectively, which may well be formed by bendin flanges, as shown.` A slide strip 12 is slida ly engaged withfthese'guideathe inner and outer end portions of saidslide strip being offset vertically, providing a vertical portion 13. between the ends of said strip and normally Aspaced outwardlyfrom the vertical portion 8 ofthe strip or arm 7. Between these vertical portions 8 and 13, a coiled spring 14 is confined, said spring being suitably connected with said portions and acting to normally force the strip 12 outwardly-toward the .rim of the wheel WV. The innerend of this Ystripis provided with a vertically yieldable terminal 15 carrying a shoe 16which is pref-vk erably in vthe form of a .rollend This shoe normally rests upon ,a portion of the arm 7 or the kcontiguous portion of the ring 6, the yequivalentof a track being thus provided, vupon which the yshoeiis movable. v The outer .end of. strip 12 is provided with a handle 17 near the rim of the-wheel, and by inwardly moving thishandle, the strip is slid to move the shoe 16 from the ring 6 onto the horn button B. As soon as shoe 16 leavesl ring 6, it is depressed under the inherent resiliency of the terminal l5, with the result that it depresses the button B and sounds the horn.` As soon as handlefl is released, spring 14 restores the slide strip 12 to its normal position and incident t0 such restoration, the shoe'16 again moves onto the up-l per side of the ring 6, inreadiness toagain jagt.. n .g

For adapting the invention 'to use with steering wheel'sin which; the horn button is an unusual distance above the wheel hub, due for, instance t0 the location of gas 'and vsparkcontrols over said hub, the Yco'nstrucn tion illustrated in Fig. 3 may be followeduss In this view, Vthe inner andy outer portions of the'securedy strip or arm 7a and the corresponding portions ofthe slidable strip 12, ,are formed of two sections having vertically slidable overlapped portions 8a and. 13a,L re- 100 spectively, which are adjustably connected with each other by any desired means, such as the clamping bolts 18 passing through slots 19. This construction allows the inner end portions of the strips 7a and 12aL to be set at any required distance above the other end portions of said strips.

F ig. l discloses another variation of construction, in which a slide strip 12b is shown, said strip being provided at its inner end with a notch 20 receiving a portion of a roller or shoe 16a, said roller or shoe being mounted upon a pivoted yoke 21 whose pivot 22 connects it with said strip 12. A coiled torn sion spring 23 is disposed around the pivot 22 with one of its ends engaged with the strip 12b and its other end engaged with the yoke 21. This construction affords a vertically yieldable terminal for the strip 12b, which terminal will be depressed by the spring 23 to correspondingly depress the roller 16a and the horn button, in the same manner as the spring terminal 15 above described deplesses the roller 6 and the button.

Excellent results are obtainable from the details disclosed and while they are preferably followed as above stated, attention is again invited to the fact that within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

T claim 1. A horn blowing attachment for a steering wheel, comprising a strip, means for securing said strip upon a spoke of the wheel, guides carried by the inner and outer end portions of said strip, a second strip slidably engaged with said guides, a shoe on the inner end of said second strip adapted to bear against and depress the conventional horn button upon inward sliding of said second strip, a handle at the outer end of said second strip for inwardly sliding the same, and a spring for returning said second strip after each operation thereof.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; the outer ends of both strips being downwardly offset from the inner ends thereof providing vertical portions between the ends of said strips, said spring being confined between said vertical portions.

8. A structure as specied in claim 1; said shoe normally resting upon said secured strip but being movable therefrom onto the horn button, said second strip having a yieldable downwardly biased terminal carrying said shoe and adapted to depress the latter when it is moved from said secured strip.

f1. A horn blowing attachment for a steering wheel, comprising an upwardly facing track and means for mounting it on the wheel at the periphery of the conventional horn button and substantially even with the upper surface of the latter, a shoe and means mounting it in engagement with the upper side of said track in position for movement entirely off of said track onto the horn button, and means for depressing said shoe to depress the button when said shoe is moved off of said track onto said button.

5. A horn blowing attachment for a steering wheel, comprising an upwardly facing track and means for mounting it on the wheel at the periphery of the conventional horn button and substantially even with the upper surface of the latter, a shoe engaged with the upper side of said track and mov able entirely 0H of said track onto the horn button, and a slide having a yieldable terminal carrying said shoe, said terminal being downwardly-biased and adapted to depress said shoe to depress the button when the shoe is moved off of the track onto said button.

6. A horn blowing attachment for a steering wheel, comprisng a ring to surround the conventional horn button, arms projecting radially outward from said ring to overlie the wheel spokes, means for fiXedly securing said arms to said spokes, and button-depressing means slidably mounted on said arms for movement longitudinally of the latter.

7. A structure as specified in claim 6; said securing means comprising spoke-straddling ears integral with said arms, and bolts passing through said ears to underlie the spokes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

GEORGE RECHTER. 

